Writing for RMN's Blog

Thank you for your interest in writing for RMN's blog. One of the key criteria for writing at RMN's blog is interest in the subject matter and a passion for justice for LGBTQ/Ally people. More than anything, we are looking for people who enjoy writing on the blog and view it as part of their ministry.

If you would like to write on our blog, please contact James Dalton (james@rmnetwork.org) with the following items:

• The URL of your current blog and/or two writing samples
• One or two paragraphs about why you would like to write on our blog
• One paragraph about how you are connected to the Reconciling Movement

Your application will be reviewed by RMN staff and some current blog authors. All new bloggers will attend a one-on-one online orientation session with James Dalton prior to starting to blog.

Commitment

Our goal is to post three entries on the blog each week. Each blog author is asked to make a one year commitment and to post one or two entries per month. I addition to this, each blog author is encouraged to participate in the quarterly conference call. The calls are designed to provide community oversight to the blog, to discuss issues that arise and for encouragement and learning. These calls happen on Saturday mornings at 9:00amPT, 10:00amMT, 11:00amCT, 12:00pmET.

If an author has not posted for three months, they will be automatically retired. Retired authors may reapply to write on the blog after six months.

Audience

The Reconciling Movement in The United Methodist Church is our specific audience, but LGBTQ/ally people in many denominations are the larger audience. In addition to this, we have four specific audiences broken up into our Extension Ministries: young adults, parents, people of color and clergy.

Guidelines

All posts need to stay within the framework outlined in RMN's Strategic Plan.

Subject Matter

The following subjects are relevant to this blog. LGBTQ/Ally issues plus any of the following:

• The Methodist Church
• Christianity
• Experience of working for justice
• Experience in the church and the world
• Biblical Studies
• Christian Theology
• Devotions
• News
• Personal Stories

Posting Length

Aim for between 250 and 500 words. Have a good reason for going over 500 words. If you have an lengthy subject to discuss, consider writing a series of posts. Longer posts need to be subdivided with bullet points, sub-headers, quotes, etc.

Quality

Blog entries need to be of sufficient quality to post on a large community site.

• Does the blog entry address a significant idea?
• Is it well written?
• Is it spell checked?
• Is it grammatically correct?
• Has it been revised?

Management

We moderate posts so that we can release them in an orderly fashion. For instance, it is better to release one or two entries per day that five entries on one day. Comments are only moderated when necessary.